Soga no Umako

Japanese: 蘇我馬子 - そがのうまこ

Year of death: May 20, 34th year of the reign of Empress Suiko (June 19, 626)
Year of birth: Unknown. Minister during the reigns of Emperors Bidatsu, Yomei, Sushun, and Suiko. Also written as Umako, Kanmako, and Ariakeshi. Son of Iname. Father of Emishi, Zentoku, Kawakami Musume, Tojiko no Otome, and Hotei no Otome. Appointed as minister in 572 (1st year of Emperor Bidatsu) when the emperor ascended to the throne, and in 573, worked hard to organize the family registers of Shiraino Tonokura (Ochiai Town, Okayama Prefecture). In the reign of Emperor Yomei, in opposition to Mononobe no Moriya's attempt to support Prince Anahobe, he presented Toyomikuchiyahime (later Empress Suiko) to the throne and had Prince Anahobe killed. Furthermore, after Yomei's death, he fought against the Mononobe clan, annihilating Moriya and the Mononobe clan at Shibukawa no Ie (Yao City) in Kawachi Province, and established Emperor Sushun, seizing dictatorial power. In 592, he learned that the Emperor disliked Umako, and ordered Tokan Naokoma to assassinate him. Afterwards, he supported Toyomikuchiyahime and had her ascend to the throne as Empress Suiko, while he himself continued to serve as a minister and discussed the compilation of the Tenno-ki and Kokki, co-ruling with Prince Umayado (Prince Shotoku). During this time, he married his daughter Tojiko no Iratsume to Prince Umayado, and his daughter Hotei no Iratsume to Prince Tamura (later Emperor Jomei), strengthening his blood ties with the royal family. In 623, he forced the dispatch of an army to invade Silla, but when he missed the arrival of a Silla tribute envoy, he regretted sending troops. The following year, he asked the Emperor to grant him Katsuragi Prefecture as a fief because it was his base, but his request was denied. He was said to have been skilled in military strategy and eloquence, and to have revered the Three Treasures. He created a small island in the garden of his house by the Asuka River, and people of the time called him the Minister of the Island. He was also enthusiastic about Buddhism, and in the 13th year of Emperor Bidatsu's reign, he requested a stone Buddha statue brought from Baekje, built a Buddhist temple to the east of his house and enshrined it there. He also had three women, including Zenshinni, take the throne as nuns, under the guidance of the Goguryeo monk Keiben. The following year, he built a tower north of Ono Hill and enshrined the Buddha's ashes. During the reign of Emperor Sushun, he sent Zenshinni to Baekje to study the precepts, while at the same time demolishing the house of the founder of Asuka Kinuzu-zukuri, and began construction of Hokko-ji Temple (Asuka-dera Temple), where monks were residing and Buddha statues were made, completing the construction during the reign of Empress Suiko. It is said that when he fell ill, he forced 1,000 men and women to take the throne as nuns. He is said to have been buried in the Tobaru Tomb, which is identified with the Ishibutai Tomb in Shimanosho, Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture.

(Atsushi Nito)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：推古34.5.20(626.6.19)
生年：生年不詳
敏達・用明・崇峻・推古朝の大臣。馬古,汗麻古,有明子とも書く。稲目の子。蝦夷,善徳,河上娘,刀自古郎女,法提郎女らの父。敏達1(572)年,天皇即位に伴い大臣に任命され,同3年には白猪屯倉(岡山県落合町)の戸籍整備に努力した。用明朝には物部守屋が穴穂部皇子を擁立しようとするのに対抗して,豊御食炊屋姫(のちの推古天皇)を奉じ,穴穂部皇子を殺させた。さらに,用明の没後には物部氏と戦い,河内国の渋川の家(八尾市)で守屋ら物部一族を滅ぼし,崇峻天皇をたてて独裁的な権力を握った。崇峻5(592)年には天皇が馬子を嫌っているのを知り,東漢直駒に命じて暗殺させた。その後,豊御食炊屋姫を擁立し推古天皇として即位させ,自身は引き続き大臣となり,「天皇記」「国記」の編纂を議するなど,厩戸皇子(聖徳太子)と共に共同執政を行った。この間,娘の刀自古郎女を厩戸皇子の,法提郎女を田村皇子(のちの舒明天皇)のそれぞれ妃とし,王族との血縁関係を強化した。推古31(623)年には新羅征討軍の派遣を強行したところ,新羅貢調使の来日と行き違いとなり出兵を後悔したという。翌年,天皇に葛城県は自身の本拠であるから賜って封県としたいと願ったが許されなかった。武略と弁才を有し,三宝を恭敬したといい,飛鳥川の傍らの家では,庭中に小島を設けたので,時の人は嶋の大臣と称したという。仏教の受容にも熱心で,敏達13年には百済からもたらされた石仏像を請い,宅の東に仏殿を建てて安置し,高句麗僧恵便を師として善信尼など3人の女性を出家させた。翌年には大野丘の北に塔を建て仏舎利を収めたという。崇峻朝には善信尼を百済に派遣して戒律を学ばせる一方,飛鳥衣縫造の祖の家を壊して法興寺(飛鳥寺)の造営に着手,僧侶を止住させたり,仏像を造らせるなどして推古朝に完成させた。病に際しては,男女1000人を出家させたとも伝える。桃原墓に埋葬されたとあり,奈良県明日香村島之庄にある石舞台古墳に比定される。

(仁藤敦史)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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